News | October 12, 2009

Honeywell's UOP And Rentech Expand Alliance To Support Clean Fuels Production From Synthesis Gas

The alliance now offers UOP technology for gas cleaning and purification

Des Plains, IL - UOP LLC, a Honeywell company, announced today that it has expanded its alliance with Rentech, Inc. to support clean fuels production, adding UOP gas processing technology for the treatment of synthesis gas, or syngas, from sources such as biomass, natural gas and coal.

The addition of the technology, which is used to cleanse and purify synthesis gas and other gas streams, allows Rentech and UOP to offer clients a one-stop solution to producing, cleaning and upgrading syngas and then converting it to clean fuels, specialty waxes and chemicals.

The new offering expands an existing non-exclusive alliance that brought together Rentech's syngas to hydrocarbon synthesis expertise and UOP's expertise in hydrocarbon conversion.

"Our goal has been to provide a one-stop solution for producers to convert syngas into high-quality, ultra-clean transportation fuels and high-value chemicals," said UOP Refining Business Director Ashis Banerji. "UOP's high-performance gas processing technologies are proven worldwide and this alliance will further enhance our ability to support production of ultra-clean fuels."

"Rentech is pleased to expand our alliance with UOP, strengthening our joint product offerings as a complete solution for syngas clean-up, conversion and product upgrading. Our proven technologies jointly offer an integrated technology solution for the production of ultra-clean, drop-in fuels from a range of biomass and fossil resources," said Richard Penning, Rentech's Executive Vice President of Technology and Commercial Affairs.

The alliance leverages the complementary technologies of Rentech and UOP, each of which offers proven solutions in the multi-step process needed to economically produce and convert syngas gas to end-use products such as fuels and chemicals.

Specifically, Rentech's technology uses synthesis gas produced from biomass and fossil feedstocks. UOP gas processing technology, now a part of the alliance, can be used to remove impurities from syngas derived from these sources as well as hydrogen-rich streams utilized within the overall plant. The resulting syngas is upgraded to ultra-clean hydrocarbons using Rentech's proprietary iron catalyst and the purified hydrogen streams are used with UOP's Unionfining and Unicracking technology to convert the liquid hydrocarbons to high-value naphtha or distillate products, which are used to produce ultra-clean jet and diesel fuel as well as specialty waxes and chemicals.

SOURCE: UOP LLC